The Chase in Writing

It took me a lot longer than I expected to get this posted, but here is the update on the donation to the Baby House! The conversion from US dollars to Litai ended up equaling 1,460 litų. In Lithuania, this is A LOT of money! When Viktoria and I talked with the orphanage to ask them what was the best use for these funds, the director asked if we would be willing it put it in their beneficiary account instead of buying things with it. She said they have been needing to update all of their educational material and this money would be an incredible help in accomplishing that. Also, she thinks they will even be able to buy some educational toys for my Little Snails. This is great because they currently do not have any. She was so grateful for this donation and couldn’t say “thank you” enough. When I took it to the bank yesterday (with the help of Viktoria), the woman who assisted us was intrigued about why an American girl would want to donate 1,460 litų to a Lithuanian orphanage. When Viktoria explained why we were doing it and that a whole group of people from my home were behind it, the woman thought it was really cool. The service charge was 8.00 Litai, so the amount donated was 1,452 litai. Also, we were able to specify that it was for educational material. When we left the bank, Viktoria put her arm around me and said, “Well, that’s a great way to end a semester.”

I also made a card that I sent to the director of the orphanage. On the outside, I wrote, “May God bless the children of Klaipėda Baby House” in Lithuanian. On the inside, I wrote, “With love for Christ and His children around the world, the following people contributed to a donation of 1,452 litai. With love from Ohio and Illinois.” (Also in Lithuanian) At the end, I signed the names of everyone who contributed. Thank you all for your help! Not only is this donation going to help around 90 orphans get an education, but it impacted multiple people along the way. I think that the most important thing is that this donation made people ask, “Why?” By asking why we would want to love these children by giving our resources, they are able to see Christ through us…to see that we do “different” things out of love for Him and His children. Even though I was hoping to be able to give tons of diapers and vitamins, and I promised everyone pictures of all of them, I believe this donation process may have impacted more people along the way, and may have a longer-lasting impact.

This is my last post from Lithuania. In less than six hours, I will be getting on a bus to make the four-hour trip to the Vilnius airport. And just like that, my time in Lithuania will be over. In some ways, it still doesn’t feel real. But, at the same time, I am excited to go home and test the lessons I’ve learned here, as well as see what new things God has for me. While this adventure may be coming to an end, I know there are many more right around the corner. For now, it is off to Paris for a few days, then homeward bound. Stay tuned for a few more updates in the coming days/weeks.